I watched this today, but really watched it. Like, critically. Picking apart what didn't work and why, and vice versa.
The first half of this film is abysmal. It's not even because there's no Superman, but how everything gets going. By the time Superman DOES come around, you're literally dying for it, for ANYTHING to happen.
Once he does show up and save the plane, this movie really gets going and then slows down, but when it does slow down, it's done in a way that doesn't stilt the film. We all mostly agree that the plane sequence is incredible, and it really fracking is, so I don't need to get into it. Best part of the movie.
I never had any problem with the willpower thing or lifting New Krypton into space, I'm fine with it all. It's a movie about a flying alien who looks just like us and can shoot lasers out of his eyes. I can handle lifting an island into space. But that's just me.
I don't know why but Bosworth wasn't awful to me this time around. I kinda got what she was going for, the jilted lover who moved on, it works. Not the ideal way to portray Lois but for some reason, she just wasn't that bad.
Brandon Routh...I have a weird, bold thing to admit. I think I'd rather see a sequel with Routh than one with Cavill. Now, I'd rather have a sequel to MOS than SR for darn sure...but I would rather see Routh again. I love Cavill, don't get me wrong, but gads, there's just something about Routh. He doesn't look all that much like Reeve, in fact, he looks more like a mix of Jason Schwartzman and Dylan McDermott with a little Liev Schreiber tossed in. His Clark is a little Reeve like, but he makes it his own and does such a good job with it. His Superman is, frankly, godlike. There's something so soothing and peaceful about him as Supes that Cavill didn't have, which is fine! Cavill showed a scifi friendly version of Supes, and has that almost holier than thou attitude about things like the Supes from the Curt Swan era. It works, totally, in fact his line about getting the two phantom engine drive things to collide is just about the most true Superman line of dialogue ever spoken in a movie and it was done so fracking well. But Routh...there's just something so powerful about how under the top he plays it. Can't explain it.
Spacey wasn't all that bad this time around, but he needed to be more menacing. The few scenes he actually is such are great. I wonder who Lex contracted for those maps of the world with his new land. I mean, there were like five of them. Who did those? And what a stupid fracking plan. Easily the worst aspect of the plot, other than the offensively awful opening with the old lady and dogs.
Langella remains a disappointment. So laid back and unPerry like. Even when he yells, it's unconvincing. Then again, now Fishburn is playing him the same way, so I guess that's just how Perry White is now? Bah!
The lighting is so confusing. Some scenes, it's beautiful. Like, straight up GORGEOUS. Then, there are times it looks like the Hubble was used to film it. Just so muted and brown and hazy and awful. Why is the sky never black? Or even dark gray? Just looks bad. It looks okay in like ONE scene.
I feel like there is more wirework and less CGI Superman in this than we think. I'm still pretty sure that close up shot of him flying thru the clouds at the end is CGI, and maybe one or two other somewhat closeups, but for the most part, that's Routh. It's pretty impressive. I think, out of all the flying in all the movies, how Supes flies in SR is the closest to the way I fly in my dreams. One of my favorite flying shots in any of the flicks is when he just left Lois and Richard's conversation and the camera just stays on his pained face as the night skies and clouds pass behind him. It's beautiful.
There's a lot of beautiful in this movie. His descending into the Fortress. His ascending with Lois in front of the globe. His hovering in space. It's all gorgeous. They should've gone for more gorgeous but instead had to have a LOT of shots of things shaking on tables and people looking at said things shaking. Lingering shots are fracking rough in this movie. Like annoyingly so.
Surprisingly unannoying is Jason. A kid just being an actual, literal kid? No clever one liners? No whining, whatsoever? No smartass comebacks? Wow. Just amazing. Never to be seen again in any movie ever again. Ditto for "the other man", Richard White. I love that they made him awesome and not some douche Lois never would've been with to begin with so we'd want her to leave him. He was a fantastic character and superbly acted by Marsden. Yes, superbly.
As it stands, I love this movie. Not all of it but most of it. There's truly an amazing Superman movie in there, it just has some poop stuck in it. It stinks that we never got the sequel, though I am actually really happy with MOS and its prospects of a future, what could be. The kid in the sequel would've been a problem, as would introducing something like Braniac into the world they created. But whatever. This movie is great.
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